Least I Could Do
One of the three webcomics from the creative team of Ryan Sohmer and Lar DeSouza (the others being Looking for Group and The Gutters). The award-winning Least I Could Do is mainly a gag-based comic strip (although every month it features a Story Arc or two that last about a week) about the misadventures of a group of longtime 20-something geek friends living in the city. The stories mainly revolve around love, sex, modern life and all things geeky from Star Wars to Star Trek to Lord of the Rings to comic books and back again.
The main character is the incredibly promiscuous Rayne, who, if you were to judge lecherousness on a scale of one to ten with ten being the highest a human could possibly be, would probably hit somewhere around a twenty-three. Throw in a lot of Idiot Hero, a few dashes of Adult Child (with a few hints of Psychopathic Manchild), and a lot of Jerkass and you will have a pretty good idea of what to expect from Rayne, although there are many occasions where he shows greater "depths" behind the intentionally and unapologetically shallow face he presents to the world... or at least, Sohmer desperately tries to write his Self Insert as having more depth than a puddle of spilled Zima.
The rest of the main cast consists of:
- Issa, one of the few women to ever refuse Rayne's advances (and who has done so since at least their teens) or that Rayne has expressed deeper feelings for, and perhaps the closest thing he has to a confidante. (For example, she knows about some heartbreaks a young Rayne went through that no one else does). Can be a voice of reason, although she's not above joining in on the antics of the others or using her sex appeal to manipulate Rayne. Has been a neglected character in recent years.
- John, Rayne's oldest friend and a near polar opposite in views of love and dating. He serves as Rayne's most direct Foil, but just as Rayne's commitment phobia is examined, so are John's issues with emotional neediness and his determination to find a wife or see anyone who comes along as a potential long-term relationship, regardless of their suitability for that.
- Noel, a Deadpan Snarker who tends to fall somewhere between Rayne and John in views on life and dating. Although added onto the strip several years into its run, he long supplanted John's role as Rayne's foil while also becoming Rayne's primary wingman.
- Mick, the overweight, tech-savvy and good-natured friend who has the misfortune of being Rayne's punching bag. He is perhaps the most socially awkward of the group, but although Mick's inability to pick up women has frequently been a source of jokes, he nonetheless has had the best luck in healthy and committed relationships.
Sohmer is trying to get a LICD cartoon pilot off the ground. He asked $75,000 (half the projected budget, with him footing the other half) from his fans; by the projected deadline, around 1,200 backers had donated well over $100,000.
You can find the comic at http://www.leasticoulddo.com/.
Tropes used in Least I Could Do include:
- Adult Child: Rayne, Rayne, and Rayne. Did I mention Rayne?
- Other cast members have exemplified this trope as well on occasion.
- Adult Fear: Rayne's secretary panics when it seems like Noel's son ate some of Rayne's prescription drugs (turns out the kid was eating blue M&M's, which anyone would mistake for medication). Rayne once faced the possibility of suffering from clinical depression that was giving him stomach pains. And there's his underlying fear that he will end up a lonely old man.
- Affectionate Parody: Star Wars, Sandra Boynton, Laugh-In, superhero comics, oh, so many
- Arc Words/Ironic Echo: "The rapid flick."
- Art Evolution: Sohmer picked up artists who were progressively more skilled, and said artists' also styles evolved over time.
- The comic had three artists prior to Desouza. Chad Porter and Trevor Adams quit on their own accord (citing personal issues with Sohmer and dislike of his growing misogyny). J. Horsley III was also involved, but he left before the comic was published, believing himself not to be prolific enough for a webcomic.
- Although it leaves out Lar's own personal Art Evolution, this strip nicely shows the difference in artists for LICD. The anime-style Rayne is from the very first artist, Marcus, from before the series had started or had a title yet. Not much is known about Marcus as of this time.
- Art Shift: Least I Could Do and its weekly offshoot "Least I Could Do: Beginnings" are in two markedly different styles.
- Attention Deficit Ooh Shiny: Rayne by a long shot. Has been lampshaded by himself.
- Author Avatar: Rayne Summers has an awful lot in common with Ryan Sohmer. Even their names are pretty similar (Rayne = Ryan, Summers = Sohmer). Also, Rayne's Jerkass brother Eric looks like Sohmer, (and is the character Sohmer has claimed represents him) while Harry The Homeless Artist was modeled on deSouza, who was homeless for a time before he began collaborating with Sohmer.
- Author Filibuster: A not-uncommon criticism, especially regarding the infamous rant against the various things the writer doesn't like about the rest of the webcomics industry.
- Balls of Steel:
- Bedmate Reveal:
- Rayne woke up one day from a bad hangover to find a naked Cyndi in his bed.
- And when he wakes up in this bed, well... let's just say that it add questions about Rayne's sexuality. He seems a bit uncomfortable about the whole thing, though. In Rayne's words, "Not the sandwich I wanted to be the meat of".
- I think this truly removes any doubts about how far Rayne is willing to go.
- And the strip's original bedmate reveal. Ouch.
- Black Hole Sue: Rayne, heavily (Rayne Summers, Ryan Sohmer). Solves any problem (think of a time when Rayne DIDN'T come to the rescue), can get with any woman (except Issa, but it's canon that he can get head within 5 minutes at a bar). None of his actions have any significant consequences (being in prison for the 5th time, got out the next day and hardly mentioned it in a passing remark), at least no significant NEGATIVE consequences to him. Rich, powerful, and the ability to have people like him no matter how many times he does things that anger them. Everyone who slights him, he gets the better of later. People who don't like him for one reason or another usually have an arc where they figure out that he's better than that. The list goes on, all pointing towards an author-insert that dominates the story, and is seemingly perfect in every way.
- Brick Joke: In this comic, Rayne says to Noel that he would desecrate Noel's wedding bed on his wedding night. In this strip he doesn't...in the night, at least.
- Bunny Ears Lawyer: Pretty much explicitly stated in this strip.
- But You Screw One Goat!: Discussed, invoked, and subverted.
- Calling the Old Man Out: Mick is doing this to his mother over her place in the murder of his father/her husband.
- Captain Obvious: In one series of strips, Rayne is asked to arbitrate a dispute between IDS' union and the management. He asks what they want: the unions want a 4% pay increase, the management is offering 2%. After a facial Flat What and a near-facepalm, Rayne asks if either of them thought to compromise at 3%. Their response is "I don't follow you."
- Characterization Marches On: Rayne starts as an very idiotic Lovable Sex Maniac. As the series progress, he gets nerdier and nerdier, and far more "intelligent. The nerdiness is mostly just a reflection of him becoming an ever more blatant Self Insert. If anything, his inability to ever do anything "wrong" has made him worse.
- Cloudcuckoolander: Rayne. Let's just use this strip as a STARTING example and go from there.
- Contest Winner Cameo: Every Valentine's Day there's a contest where the winner gets to go on a date with a character of their choosing (and yes, several of them have gotten busy). Rayne has only gotten two dates in seven years; one was with a gay man, and the other was a near-disaster[1]; the rest has been a pretty even distribution of cast members (John, Mick, Issa, Eric, Cyndi and Jumpmaster Julie have all been picked once).
- Cut Himself Shaving: "I fell down some stairs." "No he didn't. I beat the shit out of him with a smile on my face.."
- Deadpan Snarker
- Distaff Counterpart: One Halloween series of strips introduces a girl who is apparently Rayne's (the header refers to her as "Summer Rains"), but she never appeared after that single arc.
- Fan Service: The art and filler strips from the past are full of it.
- 419 Scam: Rayne gets an e-mail with this sort of scam in this strip and decides to go to Nigeria to meet his princess and claim his inheritance.
- Filler Strips: Desouza doesn't do this all that often, but Porter did, drawing mostly naked women or poking fun at the fans' attraction to Issa.
- Five-Man Band:
- The Hero: Rayne
- The Lancer: Noel
- The Smart Guy: John
- The Big Guy: Mick
- The Chick: Issa
- Freud Was Right: Well, Rayne would say so anyway. "Friends come and go, but sex... sex is forever!"
- Friends with Benefits: Rayne and Cyndi, sometimes.
- Future Loser: Subverted. Rayne is shown a vision of how he ends up as an old man. It shows him sitting by a fireplace, alone, with just a servant tending him. But then the story is more fleshed out and we see Rayne is stupidly well-off, and he shows nothing but the utmost hospitality and generosity to his old friends, their families, and his own niece. About the only thing that hints at it being played "straight" is Rayne never had any wife or kids of his own, but then again, probably didn't want either one anyway.
- Geeks
- Good Angel, Bad Angel: John's shoulder devil is Darth Vader. His angel? Chewbacca.[2]
- The Gump: Rayne, through some creative tennis-ball dodging, was apparently responsible for The Matrix series.
- Handsome Lech: Rayne, as discussed above.
- "Happy Ending" Massage: Discussed; Rayne's sent to a massage therapist, and the masseur isn't what he expected it to be (read: a guy named Rudy). After it's over, he comments that Rudy "made [Rayne] feel like a girl. With your big strong hands."
Rayne: ...no sucky-sucky?
Rudy: No sucky-sucky.
- It's not entirely certain who he's suggesting sucky-suckies who, either.
- Hitler's Time Travel Exemption Act: Subverted and dressed in a Hawaiian shirt.
- Hot Mom:
- Rayne's half-sister Emily.
- In the Beginnings strips, Rayne's mother is pretty easy on the eyes too (and her present-day incarnation shows that she's aged rather gracefully).
- His father is no slouch either.
- Ho Yay: The extremely straight Rayne has often been shown to have a mancrush on Aragorn from Lord of the Rings.
- What about this [dead link] and this [dead link] ?
- Even more.
- And... this.
- +1!
- 1+1=2!
- Um...
- It may not be intentional, but it'd be really easy to misinterpret this one.
- This troper is certain Rayne is bi, especially for Noel.
- And another one.
- Case and point.
- In February of 2008, Noel stated that he and Rayne Summers were soul mates. Rayne did not disagree.
- As ardent as Rayne is for women, this cements his attachment to Noel. Even Mick picks up on it, for MacGyver's sake!
- And who could forget the Jamaican Vacation Story arc?
- Rayne will sucka the cock, but will only swallow if you cover the closing costs.
- This pretty much confirms the "crush on Aragorn" thing.
- Rayne attempted to host an orgy. Only men arrived. Some men went on regardless. Rayne decided to join in (receiving). He didn't like it, though.
- Hypocritical Humor:
- Here.
- Also prevalent in the Star Wars arc.
- Ignored Epiphany: The arc with Marcy's boyfriend made it look like Rayne might come to terms with his man-whore behavior, after realizing that he missed his chance with Marcy because he assumed she would just wait for him to make his move and never find any other men. But then he gets over it by watching Lord of the Rings with Ashley, and by next week he's back to normal.
- Imaginary Friend: Ashley's is Lou Ferrigno. Only he's not so imaginary.
- I'm a Man, I Can't Help It: Subverted.
- If You Ever Do Anything to Hurt Her...: Rayne at his most terrifying.
- Informed Ability:
- Rayne's mastery of picking up chicks was originally a strong case of this. Virtually every strip featuring him hitting on a girl showed his asinine pick-up lines, childish behavior, and utter shoot-downs from the girls. 95% of the time, his hook-ups were only shown AFTER they'd already happened. Sure, Rayne was supposed to be good-looking, but it was more than a little obvious the writer didn't really know how a master pick-up artist works, and it was implied that Rayne merely used the "Shotgun approach" (A Tao of Rayne strip pointed out that the one girl who said yes was more important than the 99 who said no).
- Later strips partially fixed this. On very rare occasions, Rayne has shown signs that he can be more subtle and sneaky about pickups. The implication is that usually he just doesn't bother. Plus, the cute, charming, and childlike angle does work for some. His pick-up of the hot cougar at the bar was a much nicer change of pace, showing his style and smoothness in place of his general idiocy.
- Intercourse with You
- In the Style Of: Sandra Boynton, to whom they appologized profusely.
- It's All About Me: Rayne, to the point where he tells Mick that in order for him to be interested in Mick and Tammy's upcoming wedding, the event has to be about Rayne.
- Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique: On Alvin the Chipmunk, of all people.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Rayne.
- Just Eat Gilligan / Kill Him Already: Here ya go.
- Karma Houdini: Just so you know how bad it is, Rayne once dressed up as a police officer just so he could sleep with two lesbians. He spent one night in jail, and the incident was never brought up again.
- Life Embellished: Sohmer shares many of Rayne's obsessions and geek ways.
- Likes Older Women: Rayne recently picked up a woman in her late 40s, early 50s (judging by the gray streaks in her otherwise blond hair).
- Lovable Sex Maniac: Almost the definition of the trope.
- Lyrical Dissonance: The (proposed) opening theme to Least I Could Do: The Animated Series is rife with this--it's a cheery, upbeat tune about desiring to live life while facing absolutely none of the consequences or repercussions for one's actions.
- In other words, the perfect song for Rayne Summers.
- Me Love You Long Time: Subverted. Rayne initially only wanted to sleep with Cyndi Wang because she was Asian, but he later developed a genuine liking for her. He didn't get to actually sleep with her till years later.
- Metaphorgotten:
- "I fell down some stairs. Some lunatic and physically abusive stairs. During sex."
- "He's like a puppy...that you just want to strangle. And then neuter to protect future generations."
- Mr. Vice Guy: Rayne. Just... Rayne.
- Near-Death Experience
- Nerds
- Not So Above It All: Issa in a few situations, such as the series where Rayne and Eric have a bet and Eric's prize is sleeping with Issa. When the others observe how mellow she's being about being used as a trophy, her response is effectively "He's a doctor, of course I want to do him."
- Odd Couple: You do wonder how some of these friends/roomies can put up with each other...
- Only Six Faces: Chad Porter was especially bad with this. It was literally impossible to tell most women apart aside from hair, and Rayne wasn't any more notable than any other guy. Now he's the best-looking guy in the comic.
- Out of Focus: John, for years, thanks to Real Life Writes the Plot (see below). A more recent example is Rayne's secretary, who was shown giving birth, then having problems at home, and then vanished for the most part.
- Pet the Cat: Rayne has these frequently enough to push him into the Jerk with a Heart of Gold category.
- Person as Verb: Noel/Rayne
- The Pornomancer
- Practical Jokes
- Precision F-Strike: Right here. Sohmer made a big deal about it on his forum, though the constant sex jokes in the comic kind of lessen the impact.
- Prison Rape - Averted early on in the strips run as it was for the most part implied to be consensual, played straight later in it's run.
- Real Life Writes the Plot:
- One of the reasons John was temporarily pushed to the background and Noel emerged was author Sohmer's growing distance from the friend on whom John was based.
- The "Suck for a buck" prostitute is also based on a strange encounter Sohmer had as a teenager.
- Really Gets Around: Rayne
- Really Seventeen Years Old: There's a storyline involving a girl in a bar who turns out to be underage.
- The Red Stapler: Defied; one of the strips in the arc about Rayne's Alternate History novel shows his Nazi assistant wearing a Hawaiian-style shirt with swastikas on it. The header text for that comic reads "No, you can't have a shirt".
- Remember the New Guy?: One day, Noel simply knocks on Rayne's door out of nowhere to become the number two character in the strip, replacing John as Rayne's foil and main talking post. He was given an immediate backstory that stated he was Rayne's best friend.
- Refuge in Audacity: The "Midget Hooker" and "Rejected LICD Storylines" arcs.
- Rule of Funny: The comic runs on this. Rayne and company can do virtually anything without any consequences, even in cases where they probably should be in serious legal trouble.
- Running Gag: "And that's when I bought the horse a prostitute." The prostitute herself also counts.
- Sliding Scale of Fourth Wall Hardness: More often than not, it's stiff as a sheet of iron, but the scale moves quite a bit on occasion, sometimes veering into Medium Awareness or disappearing altogether.
- Shout-Out: So many.
- Status Quo Is God: For major, and more serious events, averted. Played straight with Rayne's Zany Antics arcs. Lampshaded when he has flashbacks to sleeping with a sadomasochist and throws popsicles at a hot girl who tries to talk to him, but Noel expects the "issues" will go away by Monday ( and double-subverted only to bring it up the next Friday, to find by the last panel that it's an Intercourse with You speech).
- Suspiciously Specific Denial:
- Take That: multiple
- The Power of Cheese: This.
- Three-Way Sex
- Title Drop:
- Trademark Favorite Food: Rayne has, on several occasions, been bribed into favors with large amounts of Cadbury Cream Eggs, Red Bull, or a combination of both. Also, on one occasion where he tried to give blood, they drew Orange Julius instead. A prank, not Magic Realism.
- Variable Terminal Velocity: Figures prominently in the "Time to Jump" Story Arc.
- Webcomic Time: Belatedly averted. See page for more details.
- What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?: The typical reaction to a reasonable person pointing how stupid/illegal Rayne's latest Wacky Scheme is.
- What Do You Mean It Wasn't Made on Drugs?: The Sunday Flashback Comics have been getting more and more like this. What started off as something of a Spinoff Babies parody has been getting more... hallucinatory...
- Write Who You Know: Most characters are at least loosely based on real people, hence why real life will sometimes write the plot.
- Writer on Board:
- A recent storyline where Rayne helps his old paper reinvigorate itself into a new format seems to be a way for Sohmer to express his dissatisfaction with newspapers as a medium and the way they are run, containing more than a few Take Thats to newspaper owners and publishers.
- We've also got an arc where Rayne shows up to give a lecture for TED on fear, materialism and entitlement. Given that this is Rayne speaking, you may be experiencing some dissonance.
- This, by the way, occurred shortly after Ryan Sohmer lobbied to be allowed to give a TED talk and was denied. Thus Rayne's childish mutter of "Well it's about damn time" when he begins the talk.
- There was also his rant about webcomics missing updates when Rayne and Ashley went to Nerdcon. That's right, a webcomic that slammed the whole medium of the webcomic. Also, considering that Sohmer has very little involvement with making sure his webcomic updates other than paying the artist and the webhost, he's not exactly the one to be bragging.
- Sohmer takes a lot of the writing from his own views and experiences. (Or at least, the ones he imagines in his head.)
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